Despite the great success in recent years, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem believes that Formula 1 cannot indefinitely rely on Drive To Survive to increase its popularity.
The card played by Liberty Media, which in 2019 decided to combine the real events of Formula 1 with the drama of a TV series thanks to Netflix, has proven to be decidedly successful. The exponential increase in popularity that followed in a very short time has attracted many new young fans who first became passionate about the show and subsequently about the championship itself.
However, according to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the sport cannot continue to solely rely on the success of the Netflix series forever and must find new ways to keep interest alive in a sport that has never been appreciated like today, despite Red Bull’s dominance and some controversies in recent years.
Ben Sulayem warns: Drive To Survive’s success is not enough
“We cannot rely on our current success,” said the Arab president to motorsport. “We must always think about the future. F1 has been around for 74 years. During this time, it has gone through many phases and crises but has always survived, and today it seems stronger than ever.”
“To continue like this, Formula 1 must adapt. We cannot rely solely on Netflix to attract people. The new generation wants to know about motorsport. We cannot do things as before.”
The new season of DTS, now in its sixth edition, will be released on February 23, in less than two months. It will be interesting to see what the writers have come up with to make the episodes compelling, considering the absolute monopoly of the Max Verstappen-Red Bull duo that has characterized the last nine months on the track.
Despite recent disagreements, especially regarding the Andretti saga, Mohammed Ben Sulayem could do nothing but acknowledge the great work done by the team led by Greg Maffei: “What they did during the pandemic was fantastic. I will always be indebted to them.”
“We know we are indebted to them. This is very, very clear, but Formula 1 will have to adapt to new challenges. The challenges of ten years ago are completely different today. We need to improve our business model. I am sure this will survive for a long time, as long as the FIA is also strong.” – he pointed out.
According to a recent estimate, F1’s social media channels ranked second among all major sports leagues for follower growth rate in the second quarter of 2023, surpassed only by the Spanish La Liga.
Finally, F1 itself recently revealed that the number of likes, comments, and shares on its social media profiles increased by 4% compared to 2022, and the figure is expected to exceed 1.5 billion by the end of the year.
Source: f1ingenerale
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